The Exiled ones
by Aquastring
Summary: Zoe Nightshade wasn't the only one to have been exiled from her home. The hesperides had a brother, exiled long ago before Zoe, and forgotten from the minds of men. He wanders the earth in search of a home and his sister but the results of his search may not be what he was expecting at all... ( TEMPORARY HAITUS, very busy in exams, still writing though. )
1. Flashback: The start of it all

**First chapter: 2753 years later**

**Zoë**_**Pov**_

I was exiled, no longer with my sisters and my father but in all honesty, I deserved it.

I helped him; he said that he would take me away from this place if I just help him in his quest.

I agreed, but could you blame me this place is almost as bad as being stuck in Tartarus.

So I agreed I helped him trick my father so he could get an apple from the tree.

When he found out, he made my sisters release Ladon; we ran away and hid by one of the thorn bushes.

I still remember that day as vividly as though it happened yesterday.

_**Flashback:**_

_**I was running, running for my life. I was pulling him along with me.**_

"_**Hurry!" my voice was hardly my own anymore, it was coated with fear."He will find us!"It was nighttime. A million stars blazed above. We were running through tall grass, and the scent of a thousand different flowers made the air intoxicating. Normally I would walk through this garden admiring the flowers remembering him—**_

_**NO! This wasn't the time; I was trying to help him run away from Ladon.**_

"_**I'm not afraid," He didn't understand Ladon was too powerful.**_

"_**You should be!"I said, and then I resumed pulling him along with me. We raced up the side of the hill. I led him to a thorn bush and we collapsed from exhaustion. I was already listening for the telltale signs that Ladon was coming, but I was cut from my reverie.**_

"_**There is no need to run," He said. His voice was so confident I almost believed him, almost...**_

"_**I have bested a thousand monsters with my bare hands."**_

"_**Not this one," I said to him. "Ladon is too strong. You must go around, up the mountain to my father, it is the only way."**_

"_**I don't trust your father," He said.**_

"_**You should not," I agreed. "You will have to trick him. But you cannot take the prize directly. You will die!"**_

_**He chuckled, like he found something funny.**_

"_**Then why don't you help me, pretty one?"**_

"_**I...I am afraid. I admitted." Ladon will stop me. My sisters, if they found out...they would disown me."I really didn't want to lose my family. They're all I have left.**_

"_**Then there's nothing for it."He said. Then he stood up, rubbing his hands together like he was getting ready to tackle on Ladon. Wait, he was getting ready to tackle on Ladon.**_

"_**Wait!" I said to him.**_

_**Should I help him or should I leave him to the mercy of Ladon.**_

_**I immediately slapped myself for that thought. I'm not like my father who is merciless.**_

_**So with trembling hands I slowly reached and plucked a beautiful white brooch from my long hair."If you must fight, take this. My mother, Pleione, gave it to me. She was a daughter of the ocean, a sea goddess, and the ocean's power is within it. My immortal power."**_

_**I breathed on it as a blessing and it glowed faintly. It gleamed in the starlight like polished abalone.**_

"_**Take it," I told him."And make of it a weapon."**_

_**He laughed."A hairpin?"Disbelief creeping into his voice. 'How will this slay Ladon, pretty one?'"**_

"_**It may not," I admitted."But it is all I can offer, if you insist on being stubborn."**_

_**He finally surrendered and took the hairpin from my hands, and as he did the hairpin grew longer and heavier in his hand, until he was holding a perfectly balanced 3 ft. long blade of deadly celestial bronze.**_

"_**Well balanced," He said "Though I usually prefer to use my bare hands. What shall I name this blade?"**_

"_**Anaklusmos, I said with sadness seeping through my tone. 'The current that takes one by surprise. And before you know it, you have been swept out to sea.'"**_

_**Before I could wish him luck however, there was a trampling sound in the grass, a hiss that sounded like air escaping a tire."Too late, he is here!"**_

_**Immediately he turned around and dodged Ladon's sharp jaws coming at him. He turned and shouted for me to run.**_

_**So I ran, I ran for what seemed like hours but in truth were just minutes.**_

_**I finally stopped by the side of a eucalyptus tree; these grew in abundance in our garden.**_

_**I was catching my breath when a voice spoke by my side.**_

"_**Sister." The voice turned my blood ice cold. I turned to my side and saw what I dreaded the most.**_

"_**My sisters were there gazing at me coldly, their eyes sharp with distrust and their mouths drawn in a straight line.**_

"_**Sisters w-what are y-you d-doing here."I stuttered**_

"_**We are the guardians of the golden apples are we not? And this mountain is where it is located.**_

"_**We have guarded the apples for all our lives and we are instructed to set Ladon to those who try to steal them." By this time a pool of dread has already formed in my stomach.**_

"_**But you sister, you have helped an intruder get one of the sacred apples when you are told not to." Please no! Tell me their not thinking of that...**_

"_**So from this time onward you are forbidden to go inside the garden or even show yourself to us lest we will set Ladon upon you." I couldn't hold it anymore, tears form from my eyes but they show no hint of sadness or regret in putting me in exile.**_

"_**Leave now." Those were the last words I would here from them in more than two millennia.**_

_**I leaned on the tree crying my eyes out for what seemed like hours. But then a thought brightens my current mood.**_

_** I could search for my brother, apologize for getting him exiled.**_

_**That one thought strengthens me physically and mentally and I begin my journey down the hill. I pass the place where Ladon is usually stationed, but he is nowhere in sight.**_

_**I walk on and on down the hill with the current intention of finding Heracles, until I trip facedown on the muddy ground. I was so absorbed by my thoughts that I didn't notice the uprooted tree in front of me. It was also burnt meaning Ladon and Heracles passed here. I continue walking until I hear a triumphant scream.**_

_**I run to the scream's direction to find Heracles standing at the side of one of Ladon's heads; a spoil of war although he wasn't paying attention to that, he was busy looking at the golden apple in his hands, he had a strange glint in his eyes and he was staring at it hungrily.**_

"_**Heracles!" I called him, and the glint in his eyes disappeared.**_

"_**Why, you are here pretty one, I thought you stayed atop the mountain?"**_

"_**I was forced to leave by my sisters, I was exiled."**_

"_**I am sorry."He said, but there was a strange tone to his voice.**_

"_**Could I go with you? I have nowhere to go now that I am forbidden to come back to my garden."**_

_**He frowned "You cannot travel with me, I am going to my next labor and it is too dangerous for you." Normally, I would be flattered for that type of concern but something was wrong here.**_

"_**Alright then, But could you at least help me travel to the nearest town or village?"**_

"_**No, I cannot I am making haste for my next labor and would like it to be finished as soon as possible." He said. But his voice was already getting impatient.**_

"_**No?' I asked incredulously' but this is all I ask of you, surely you will help me after what I have done for you.'"My voice had gone dangerously quiet but he took no notice.**_

"_**I have no time for talking or to listen to your woes nor do I have the time to escort you to the nearest signs of civilizations." He said half-impatiently and half-coldly.**_

_**I was shocked by the sudden change of his attitude. This was not the man I had known back at the garden. **_

_**I was speechless at his sudden outburst even though I struggled to speak I couldn't like someone had cut my vocal chords.**_

_**He must have mistaken my silence for agreement because he said:**_

"_**I am leaving." He turned around walking through the forest and maneuvering away from the thorny plants and flowers.**_

_**I tried to call him but it was too late. He was already gone, I sit down and lean against a random tree and try to think about everything that has happened.**_

_**I wanted so badly to cry because everything that has happened, I lost my family and get abandoned in the middle of the forest by him, Heracles.**_

_**But I didn't cry, I wouldn't cry. I was stronger than that.**_

_**It was fast approaching dawn and I lay there against the tree thinking of where I should go and where I will find food, water and shelter.**_

_**While I was there thinking of my plan to survive I didn't notice the agile figure creeping up behind me until she grabbed me herself.**_

_**I tensed when the mysterious figure grabbed me and got ready to struggle when the figure spoke.**_

"_**Do not fret νεαρού πατρικό I am here to help you with your...predicament."**_

_**The voice had a calming and reassuring tone, but that didn't mean I trusted the voice already.**_

"_**Who are you?"I questioned her. I tried to sound brave but my voice had a hint of fear.**_

_**This could be the last moments of my miserable and unrewarding life.**_

"_**That I will tell you in the morning, but for now sleep."**_

_**As soon as the words left her mouth my eyes were already closing against my will and then the world was in pitch darkness.**_


	2. The trickster

_**Second Chapter: 2753 years later**_

**Zoë** **Pov**

I was crouched in the tall grass and covered by the shadows of an oak tree.

I was observing a sleek-bodied doe in the middle of a clearing in the forest. It was facing the opposite side of me and was just grazing the grass.

I slowly crept closer to it and I was drawing my long and sturdy silver bow when I noticed a rustle in the bushes just a few feet away from my position.

I contemplated investigating it when a massive wolf with fur as black as jet pounced on the doe and bit its neck effectively killing it.

I knew it couldn't have been the average black wolf for we were hunting in Northern Europe, in one of the forests in Finland and black wolves were rarely seen in these parts.

And for another thing this wolf was the size of a minivan effectively marking it as a part of the mythical world of the gods (which to put it quite frankly isn't so mythical).

I leaped up from my hiding spot and aimed my arrow to hit it at the eye with speed and gracefulness only you could get from using this kind of weapon for many years, and two and a half millennia is a very long time.

The arrow streaked in the air and hit the eye with pinpoint accuracy. The massive hellhound turned into fine golden dust but not before uttering a howl to the moon.

I immediately tensed and nocked an arrow and I sent it flying behind me, straight to another hellhound's head right between its eyes.

I put my bow away and drew my twelve inch hunting knives from its silver sheathes. I put on a battle stance and wait for my large canine adversaries.

Just mere seconds after, six hellhounds appeared from the trees in all directions surrounding me and allowing no chance of escape.

The hellhounds sizes ranged from an automobile's to the size of a world war two Panzer IV tank just shave off a couple of inches.

They just stared at me with those hellish-red eyes and growled at me from the back of their throats.

Suddenly, one of the smaller hellhounds pounced at me and I reflexively leaned back to the point that my braided, shoulder length black hair was touching the ground.

The hellhound completely went over me and as that happened I brought one of my hunting knives and slashed at its underside horizontally.

It exploded into a shower of golden dust leaving me with five remaining hellhounds. Two of the last smaller hellhounds pounced at me the same time, from my right side and my left side.

I dodged both their attacks all the while using one of my knives as a throwing knife and nailed one of them in the eye.

The other one snarled at me and pounced again raising its claws to slash at me, I leaped back to dodge and then stabbed my remaining hunting knife at the top of its skull.

Now all that remained were three hellhounds the size of a tank. I knew that I wouldn't survive if I stayed here and fended them off by myself.

I would need support in the form of the other huntresses' and Lady Artemis so I decided I would run the remaining four and a half miles back to camp, but I needed a way through these juggernauts.

I quickly sprinted though their direction, also picking my other knife in the process, and while they were still motionless because of the sudden movement I slid down beneath one of the giants baseball-style (or so the other newer hunters told me) and stood up and sprinted towards the camp.

The rest of the way back to camp consisted of five or six near close calls, a bleeding arm and a bruised leg.

But after about forty minutes of running I finally spotted a campfire in the distance and shouted at the top of my voice:

"Sisters, Ready thy bows, I am being chased by spawns of the Underworld and I need thy assistance!"My voice sounded frantic and scared, it happens when your about to have a pleasant visit with Hades (which your not coming back from, Ever).

After a moment of silence in the camp, I started to panic, what if they didn't hear me or they are too late in preparing their weapons to save me.

I was so absorbed in my thoughts that unless for the howls of pain I would never have noticed the arrows falling from the sky with a likeness of a hailstorm.

I collapsed just next to one of the tents breathing heavily and struggling to stand up and speak when someone shouted my name:

"Zoë, Are you okay, what happened to you?!"A sharp gasp, "Zoë your bleeding your clothes are covered with it."

As soon as the voice said that I became conscious of a stinging pain in my arm and the constant bleeding of a claw wound.

I became dizzy and my surroundings were turning blurry, I could faintly hear a voice in the background screaming my name" "Zoë, Zoë!? Do you hear me? Speak to me!"

The voice became harder and harder to hear until it just completely faded to oblivion. I tried to keep awake for my sake and theirs but eventually I blacked out.

It was morning when I came to wake, I was lying in a comfortable pillow and I was covered in a blanket probably made from an animal's hide (as most of the things here were made).

My eyes were still blurry and my arm was in a gauze but that wasn't what I was worrying about it was the arm itself I was worrying about it was numb and I couldn't feel anything.

To top it all of I had a searing headache like a million burning blades were being impaled in my brain all over again and again and again and agai—

I was cut from my thoughts as three figures came in the tent entrance. I couldn't see who they were my eyes were still blurry and tired from last night's...rather unfortunate event.

In closer inspection I found out that the figures were respectively in the order of entrance: Lady Artemis, Alyssa one of the experienced medics in the hunt, and lastly Phoebe my (unofficial) second- in- command.

They were talking amongst themselves when they entered the tent but when they saw me looking at them they stopped and then Lady Artemis greeted me.

"Zoë, I am glad you are awake my lieutenant." She said warmly.

"Yes I am glad myself, so what is the condition my wound." I was still aware of the numbness of my arm and I was nervous of its condition.

"That's what we were here for in the first place." Said Phoebe, and then Lady Artemis nodded to the medic and she kneeled by me and started unraveling my gauze. Not that I looked at it though, I was to busy looking at Phoebe and the twelve year old goddess (yeah right and I was the world's first feminine satyr).

They nodded at each other with what looked like grave faces, but if you looked really closely you could see a ghost of a smirk in both of their faces although it was much detectable in Phoebe's face. But it was gone as fast as it appeared.

"Look we have to tell you something but we have to make sure you won't get shocked and/or aggressive."Phoebe said with a grave and somewhat nervous tone.

"What is it and why do thou need me to be calm for this news, I am always calm."I said with an incredulous tone. To which she responded with a snort and muttered under her breath to which I only heard snatches like:"Yeah right, boy from woods, eyes gouged, disemboweled" and other torturous things that you might not want to hear about.

I brought her out of her 'precious' little thought bubble by asking:

"What are thou planning to say to me again?"I said with a hint of impatience but could you blame me I was wrongly convicted of torturing a boy with no mercy and the suspense is also killing me (not literally of course).

She responded with an:"Oh right about that . . . you have to quit the hunt . . . your arm is amputated, cut of, ripped away, take your pick."Her former grave tone and face was back at this point.

We stared at each other blankly. I was trying to process what she just said, while she was waiting for a reply. The silence was broken when the medic, Alyssa, said:

"Lady, she must be in shock which is understandable seeing as the hunt has been her only family for two thousand years over and it's not easy losing a pa—OW!"She was interrupted because I accidentally smacked her face in trying to check my (apparently unwounded) arm.

After a moment of pure, mindless, and helpless panic I finally registered that my arm was indeed in its designated socket and fully healed albeit a little sore and pale, and I sighed in relief. A few seconds passed before I heard uncontrollable laughs and snorts by my side.

I looked over to witness Phoebe literally rolling on the floor laughing while clutching her sides. Lady Artemis was also laughing although hers was softer.

"Y-you tricked me."My voice was almost a high-pitched scream by the end of the sentence, so high that Phoebe stopped laughing to cover her ears.

"We thought it would be fun since it's been a little boring these past few days."She laughed nervously. You're asking what my reply was, here you go:

"I will give thou the count of Τρία (three) to run from my impending urge to scar you physically and mentally that or I could just end your life brutally that the others will think you were killed by a monster scrounging for food.

She ran then and there, actually who wouldn't; I would if I was her.

"Ένα... δύο... τρία, now let us see how swift thou run and how skilled thou are in hiding!"

"Go easy on her my lieutenant I don't want any of my hunters to die in the hands of a currently eccentric Zoë Nightshade!"Lady Artemis shouted as a reminder.

I sighed; sometimes life in the hunt is harder to bear than Apollo's constant flirting, and _that's _saying something.


	3. Running from certain Artemis

**Third chapter: 2753 years later after exile**

**Percy Pov**

I woke up to bright, sunny morning the birds were chirping, there was a nice breeze and different animals of different sizes were in sight every few miles resulting in an abundance of food for me to hunt. Yeah, I hope that's what really happened too.

Actually in truth I woke up to heavy rain and a loud and possibly dangerous thunderstorm seeing as I and Mr. Storm (aka Zeus) don't see eye to eye in things (seriously I have no freaking idea!).

But that's not the worst part, the worst part was figuring out how I could get even a little amount of food seeing as most animals are in their caves and nests, whichever, I really need to get some meat, I couldn't just pick up some edible herbs and plants here and there.

Because that's _exactly _what I've been doing these past few days and I'm losing valuable energy fast and I feel like I could eat a Pegasus.

Eventually, I finally stood up albeit with a lot of moaning and groaning and whispered excuses to imaginary people. (Sometimes I wonder if I finally lost it, I mean excuses to cave walls!?).

I finally stood up and went to my makeshift display of weapons, where there is a bow with a grayish green shade that is a perfect camouflage for the forest, it was a gift from my mother, the sea goddess Pleione, and the only thing I managed to pack when I was exiled.

It also turns into a necklace that has a cross with a silver shade, ironic since we Greeks(and Romans), ancient and modern don't believe anything that comes from Christianity, but it also helped me when I make my very rare trips to the mortal world since it makes me blend in as Greek orthodox.

There is also a collection of knives both celestial bronze and mortal steel, the latter is for gutting animals and dealing with troublemaking, mortal strays in the forest. The former is obviously used for killing monsters and the like; I usually use those knives as throwing knives though since I've already armed myself with two hunting knives I've forged during my time as a blacksmith(very long story, I'll tell it to you sometime).

The last weapon or a spoil of war really, is a Minotaur horn, I used it already as a weapon against the Minotaur and some hellhounds but mostly I just keep it as some sort of medal honoring my very first kill as an exile.

Since I would be hunting today, I only armed myself with my bow and my hunting knives, next on the list I put on my grey, waist-length parka and put up my hood placed in such a way as to cover my eyes with a shadow.

I then wore my grey-matching pants that reaches to my heels and wore my brown boots. Lastly, I wore my mask that covers the upper bridge of my nose downwards. I use it because I don't want to have the risk of getting recognized by anyone mortal or immortal, human, demigod or monster, I do this since I sometimes go to cities or villages to find out what's going on in the world or to get supplies not found in the forest.

I go out of the cave and into the drenching rain, mere seconds after I'm outside, already I am wet to the bone but the rain refreshes me and also reenergizes me. A skill I learned months after exile and mastered in the course of four years, I learned how to manipulate water and use it to my advantage.

But it also has its cons, including right now where there is barely an animal in sight; I walk aimlessly for hours straining my ears for the light pounding of hooves or trying to sight a rabbit burrowing.

After another half-hour of walking, I hear a faint grunt of panic and run to its direction I see a deer presumably a stag because of the horns. Its hooves were stuck in a wedge in a rock and it was trying to get out although with no observable progress.

I draw my bow and nock an arrow aiming at its eye; always aim for the eye, a clean kill is always the best.

I let the arrow take flight and watched as it pierced the eye dead-on, a clean kill and a painless death dead before it hits the ground too. I went out from my position fifty-five feet from my prey and walked closer and I instantly noticed some...unusual attributes about my prey.

It had golden antlers, not the fake golden shade but the real metallic gold, I could tell by the dull gleam it had even in this rain. It also had brass hooves which I'm a hundred and one percent sure normal deer don't have.

I quickly pieced together the puzzle albeit with a feeling of dread deep in my gut. If I'm right I have only little chance and time to run, and let's see...this isn't a stag at all, it's a hind a female deer but why does it have antlers?

The answer: It's a _**Ceryneian hind, **_the sacred deer of Artemis the one that she uses for her chariot and also for errands of some kind. This means I am now a primary target for her and her hunters.

The solution: Run as far as I can and don't look back, it'll be better if I can find a deep body of water that I can concentrate in hiding my essence or whatever gods use to track people.

Good thing I solved that faster than you can say 'I'm dead' because I'm beginning to hear the faint sounds of bowstrings being released, I can even hear the arrows soar in the air. I begin to sprint to the nearest lake where I can hide, which is about eleven miles from here.

I'm going to do _**a lot**_ of running, wait no the right word is sprinting since I'm running away from certain doom, and what's worse? That certain doom comes from a band of _seemingly _innocent girls from ages six to sixteen.

Although in truth those girls can be centuries or even millennia old, and they're as deadly as an apartment full of Ares girls all having their _**time of the month, **_only about ten times worse . . . hmm what about a camp full of huntresses all having their time of the month, now _that's _something I don't want to see.

Okay, now pushing away my disturbing and probably death inducing thoughts because of the distractions that it caused. I tune in my surroundings once more to notice the occasional arrow streaking past, under and over me, good thing my dodging autopilot function (DAF) didn't disappoint me (has it ever?).

If we happen to pass any mortals here we would appear only as blurs streaking by, that's what hunters all have in common mortal or otherwise, we all have large amounts of agility, stamina and dexterity.

But the difference between mortal hunters and us is that mortals don't have godly blood (or Titan blood in my case) so they have a lower limit of traits than 'us'. In terms of speed if mortals were arrows in flight, we were bullets streaking in mid-air.

After fifty minutes of running I was only a mile away from the lake, normally it would take twenty-thirty minutes tops but I had to take detours to confuse the hunters but they still are only a few feet from me. I would need a distraction that can prolong their catching up on me, good thing there's rain.

I concentrated on the raindrops falling from the sky and those that are already under my feet and combined them and stored them inside me slowly building up with all the continuous rain, and abruptly I stopped running and turn back around.

After a few seconds they finally appeared through the strong haze of the rain, the rain was strong at this point you could barely see your arms when you raise them, good thing I have better vision in this heavy rain (although this rain is still caused by Zeus) than the hunters.

"You better surrender boy, you have done enough running and the hunt has more important business than chasing the likes of you!"Artemis shouted through the noise of the rain, better play along right now, I still need power for my tidal wave.

"If you have better business than chasing me for the whole day then why don't you just go and leave me with my own business?"I shouted back, of course she'll probably say something about me killing the hind and that she couldn't let me get away with it.

"You have killed an animal sacred to me and my hunt; you didn't think we would let you escape your punishment for killing my pet and errander?"She said more about the hind and other things but I tuned her out and concentrated on my tidal wave.

I had collected so much water that the resulting tidal wave could disorient and even knockout the ones that take the full force of it, but those who don't get hit by the wave? I figured out that the distraction caused by Artemis and the other hunters getting disoriented and/or knocked out will give me enough time to run away and hide under the lake.

I suddenly released my tidal wave relieving me of the intense pressure of holding that much amount of water, it hit Artemis and a girl beside her I presume her lieutenant full on along with about a dozen hunters.

Artemis fell on her back all the while spluttering while the other hunters were sprawled on the ground groaning and half conscious. I ran the remaining distance to the lake and my last image of the hunters were the remaining standing ones looking at me and Artemis as if thinking whether to chase me or help their patron.

I dived in the lake and immediately sank in the bottom all the while trying to remain as inactive as I can to avoid alerting the pissed of goddess above me. I let my thoughts wonder to my growling stomach, I couldn't just hunt food with peace, and I just _had_ to kill a sacred animal and get a man-hating goddess to hunt me until the end of time itself.

I contemplated staying there when I hear the very faint sounds of screams and moments later I see the distorted and blurry images of people from beneath the lake, it was hard to see with the constant ripples caused by the heavy rain but they were certainly there, oh well I just have to stay here in the lake then and as soon as I thought that, my eyes closed almost instantaneously.


	4. hellhounds, Thanatos, campfire

**Fourth chapter: 9 hours since encounter**

**Zoë Pov**

We have been searching for the boy since our encounter regardless of the heavy rain; our search lasted well into the night but our efforts were rewarded with nothing. The whole of the hunt now despises him now more so than other boys we have encountered in the past, while he is now a priority target for us I couldn't help but give him some credit, It's not everyday you tend to escape Lady Artemis' wrath.

But in the end regardless of how fast he runs or how well he hides, the hunt will find him. It always ends like that, time and time again a boy postpones Lady Artemis' anger by running but in the end he always gets caught.

Now we were stopping the search for the boy (for now) to move on to much more important matters. We were currently returning to our camp to discuss our next plan of action, recently monsters of different origins and sizes were beginning to show up in forests and cities all around the world.

The rest of the hunt was still wondering, including I, what the reason was for all of these happening. Lady Artemis refused to tell us though since it was direct orders from Lord Zeus that she doesn't tell anyone unless absolutely necessary.

One of the many reasons why the hunt was much more busy than usual was because of the incoming winter solstice; Lady Artemis wanted as much work done fast before she had to attend the annual meeting.

Not that I and the other hunters complained though, it meant that we were able to move more and that we were able to kill as much monsters as we want and not just sit around trying to occupy ourselves by firing arrows at each other, because even the world of the gods had its lethargic moments.

I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I didn't notice that we were already seated on a log close to a bonfire until Lady Artemis started to speak.

'We have spent more than enough precious time in searching for that boy."She said boy with a voice full of venom."We will continue our search in the future, although I have a feeling that he will turn up sooner or later."All of us smiled already thinking different ways to punish that boy and ultimately eradicating another pest (_**man-hater alert!**_).

"Now onto other matters, as you all know the hunt has been much more active than the past few decades resulting in much more frequent missions and more recruits to the hunt. I have currently tracked the location of two demigods in Maine currently residing in a military school."

"One of them is a young girl who is burdened by her responsibilities to keep her brother safe from harm as well as to act as a second mother to him, surely once we offer her a place in the hunt she will agree. It means a new family for her and a new sister for us."

The majority of the hunters cheered while others including me just smiled, we always welcomed new recruits since they were an addition to our family. It also means that we saved another woman from turning to marriage and ultimately become just another plaything for a man.

"Yes, now before we can offer her the chance of joining the hunt we still have to kill the monster observing them disguised as their Vice-Principal I do not know as of yet what kind of monster he is but I am positive he is after them, those half-bloods . . . have a very overpowering scent and I can sense a powerful aura as well.

By this time nobody was smiling anymore, the gleeful light behind everybody's eyes were replaced by a flaming determination but with_ just_ a hint of sorrow. These were hard times and many died and are still dying, even the hunt has suffered casualties because of the stirring of monsters and being reminded of the current threat always sends us in a torrent of different reactions and emotions.

"Now sleep my hunters, we have a long day ahead of us and we still need to take care of a few errands. We will leave as soon as the sun appears in the horizon and you might want to get as much rest as possible since we are tracking a pack of hellhounds as vicious as the ones Zoë encountered a few days ago."

"We will also be tracking a dozen Laistrygonians for tomorrow so it will be an exhausting day come morning, now back to your tents you're wasting valuable time for sleep and reenergizing by just sitting there."

We dispersed to go in our respective tents while Lady Artemis went back into her own tent, once I got inside my tent I started rearranging the fur turned blankets and got to ready to lie down, once I did I fell asleep instantly from the exhaustion caused by the hunt for the boy.

I woke up in the first appearance of the sun in the morning; I stood up groggily while looking for my pack to change clothes, as I did I could also hear the other hunters going out of their tents to do their early morning functions.

After I finished changing to another pair of regular silver hunting clothing I picked up my bow and put my hunting knives in their silver sheathes. I went out of my tent to discover that only a few hunters have already woken up, the others are still too lazy to get up from their comfortable rags.

I stopped staring at my surroundings only to stare at the nearby lake where only three huntresses are currently lying on there bellies all submerging there heads in the clear water. I walked over and dipped my waterskin to refill it and I also splashed some on my face to wake me up.

Next on the list of my morning functions is to wake up these three huntresses before they drown, actually this is just common behavior for some of the huntresses. Namely Phoebe, Erika, and one of their additions Alyssa the medic who treated me, the reason is that when I accidentally smacked her in the face it left a mark, now she believes that if she submerges her face in the lake every morning it would heal and now that the mark is disappearing from time she believes it's the lake's _healing_ powers now she's referred as the 'girl who lost her head, along with the smack'.

I walked over to Phoebe and Erika first; I knew they were awake by the countless times that I tried this. I pulled back the sleeves of my parks and pushed on the back of their heads effectively waking them better than any amount of caffeine ever could.

I let them be lost in panic a few seconds before I pulled back their heads to give them their much needed supply of oxygen; I moved on to Alyssa next and repeated the procedure with her.

I looked at Phoebe and Erika to see them still hacking and coughing and pawing the ground, while Alyssa was following their precise actions. My next order of business was to get the horn beside Lady Artemis' tent and blow it at the very center of camp, just a small breath on it will wake all the huntresses up and send them stumbling out of their tents.

I quickly took the horn and moved to the center of all the tents, I put my lips to the horn and the result was instant and humorous chaos, some huntresses stumbled out only half-dressed while others were still wearing their clothes from yesterday while stumbling to draw an arrow. I would have watched and seen more too if I wasn't rudely pushed out of the way by someone.

I looked for the one who pushed me and my gaze settled to the one and only Lady Artemis, I was particularly shocked by this since I thought she was away on some important business and would just call us later, so I ran after her to find out how she heard the horn presumably miles away.

"Lady Artemis, what are you doing here I thought thou were away!?"

"Zoë, we shall talk later we will take care of the threat first."I felt like I was in some kind of twilight zone when she said that, I thought she knew that the horn was just used to wake up in the morning in fact _she_ told me to use the horn if we had important business that needed to be one for the next day.

"But Lady Artemis there is no threat; thou told me to use the horn to wake the huntresses up!"

"What! All the huntresses shouted disbelievingly at me' Are you telling me that you made us panic for absolutely nothing?!'"

"Ah yes, forgive me I have forgotten about that certain notion, alright hunters stow your bows and clean yourselves up, false alarm!"Lady Artemis forgetting, I don't believe it she barely forgets anything especially if it involves the hunt. She must have been surprised if she momentarily forgot about what she said to me.

"Lady Artemis, I must ask where thou were this morning before thou arrived here at camp."

"What do you mean? I have been here since our discussion last night; the only time I have left my tent is right now."

"But Lady Artemis if thou were inside thy tent the whole night until now why did not thou wake us up instead and thou also look like thou just got out of bed."

Absolute silence rang between all the huntresses right now including me. We were all sure of the answer already but it was so surreal that nobody was sure if it was the answer, well the others did think that but not me.

"Thou did not wake us up because thou were asleep. By this time all of us were grinning like madwomen, even me I admit.' Thou forgot about the horn because thou did not forget at all, you were surprised just like the other huntresses meaning thou were asleep like them.'"

By this time I and every single one of the huntresses were laughing, some were even literally rolling on the floor while clutching their sides in pain. Lady Artemis was so red she would have put a tomato to shame.

After the most affected huntresses recovered enough to stand up after that little (anything but!) laugh fest, Lady Artemis ordered all of us to ready our supplies and pack up the tents, while she went back to her tent most likely to get rid of her red tinted cheeks and to forget the embarrassment.

But no matter how much she tries to forget, the huntresses will never let her live that one down, the creepy and insane smiles plastered on the huntresses faces is enough proof for that.

After we finished packing our tents and fed our hunting wolves we didn't have to wait long for Lady Artemis to emerge from her tent, her stoic and serious face back on although her cheeks were still tinged with pink. We left after Lady Artemis stated her orders to separate and hunt for tracks.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, and by that I mean one of the most exhilarating days I have ever had in the hunt, one of the reasons that made it so was that I got the chance for revenge. It started out like this:

* * *

I was tracking with Phoebe as always since one of the rules of hunting according to our Lady Artemis was to always hunt with a partner in case of danger. We were walking in the forest bows drawn and eyes and ears strained to hear the slightest noise.

We have been tracking the hellhounds since this morning and now it was close to night, there were many in groups of 3 or 5 and they were the same size if not more than the ones I encountered a few days ago.

I as everybody knows have a very fiery temper rivaling "Zeus' when he can't find his precious lightning bolt" and if that temper is awakened, Well . . . let's just say that whoever is faced with my wrath is going to need a label for his body parts.

Of course, the hellhounds were just begging to be dismembered slowly limb by limb, if they just stay as big, hulking pieces of meat in death I would most definitely carry their carcasses (or what's left of it anyway) and cook them at the campfire and serve them to my fellow huntresses.

Anyhow, while we were walking we encountered those Panzer IV sized hellhounds and the wounds that were inflicted to me not too long ago were still fresh in my mind. So while seething with anger and contempt, I did what was most definitely the most dangerous and stupid action I did ever since I have joined the hunt.

I charged them head on whilst ignoring the panicked screams of my companion (which would deserve me a powerful smack on the forehead and would deserve _her_, a frustrated punch on the face as retaliation) actually it wasn't a single hellhound, it was a trio and I have no idea why I am still alive right now.

I charged like a bull does when faced with red fabric and ignored the snarling and growling of those horrible tank-sized creatures, halfway there one of the hellhounds charged at me too in head-on collision in 3. . .2. . . 1.

When I was but a few meters away, I dodged it's salivating jaws and used it's paws as a springboard to grapple the lower lip of the hellhound while it was shaking it's body and head like it had fleas. I could almost imagine Phoebe's mouth agape while watching me with a mixture of horror and sick fascination.

I almost laughed at the mental image that's most likely happening with her in real life, but if I did I would just bite my own tongue off, and they say that laughter is the best medicine. I quickly shook off any unnecessary thoughts and focused on the task at hand.

I continued to be rudely thrown left and right with only one hand hanging on it's lower lip and I was desperately trying to latch another hand on its thick jet-black fur mainly because I would be forced to released sooner or later and that I was beginning to feel it's slimy drool on my hand and it was disgusting and I was also beginning to slip on it.

After a lot of struggling and dodging and punching I was finally able to grasp a fistful of it's fur and pull myself up on it's furry, black head, once I was seated in a fairly comfortable position I put both of my arms around the neck and squeezed tightly to ensure that I didn't fall. I slowly and carefully released my right arm from around its neck and summoned my bow.

I prayed to Lady Artemis and the other gods that my plan would work and that my bow would still be intact once I was finished with this plan, I quickly crawled closer to where it's muzzle was and released my other arm from where it was grabbing fur and in turn tightened my legs on its sides to maintain balance.

I held my bow horizontally and quickly put it in the hellhound's mouth, the wooden part inside and the bowstring outside to act as a rein and I am proud to say that after another couple of minutes of trying to get the hellhound in control and another couple in getting my bearings that my plan worked.

I then quickly turned my hellhound back to our original location and found Phoebe on top of a tree trying to hit the beasts successfully but this batch seemed to have grown a brain for they were constantly running around dodging the arrows, also Phoebe's position in the tree didn't offer much movement and the foliage was constantly hitting her in the face.

I urged my ride forward to meet the hellhounds and before they knew it my hellhound was already clawing at the face of one while the other backed away snarling, just waiting for me to finish off the one under.

Once my hellhound dealt the finishing blow on the current target, the last one pounced at us nearly clawing my face off in the process, good thing my ride had quick reflexes as well and backed away just at the nick of time.

We (my hellhound and I) circled with the remaining enemy just waiting for the other to strike first; eventually the hellhound ran out of patience and pounced at us. I raised the bowstring to signify to my hellhound that I wanted him to raise his forearms to deflect the pounce of the other hellhound.

After the enemy hellhound collided against the forearms of my ride, it backed away and pounced again trying to claw my face out, I instructed my hellhound to run forward in an attempt to pound the enemy against a nearby tree and we succeeded.

We smashed it to a tree and while it was still winded my hellhound bit at its throat earning a last howl before it too became a shower of golden dust. I came close to my fellow huntress' position to find her mouth agape and her eyes as wide as dinner plates.

"Come down here, we still need to help the others and I have a perfect way of transportation to get us to them swiftly!"She managed to snap out of her trance just long enough for her to jump out of the tree before she began bombarding me with questions.

"What, where and _how_ did you get to tame that beast, much less ride it?!"She asked while waving her arms around like a lunatic on _extra_ crack.

"For thy first question this is obviously a hellhound, for thy second question I tamed it some distance away from you and for thy third question look at the mouth."I answered her in a manner the complete opposite of how she asked me, which is to say calmly.

She took one look at the mouth and her mouth once again dropped open before she pointed at my bow silently asking if it was still in a usable condition after this. I just shrugged; truthfully I just resolved to get another bow after this. But that doesn't mean I won't miss this one, it was my very first bow since I joined the hunt.

"I don't know, now are thou going to mount or should I need to leave without thee?"She just involuntarily shivered at my question.

"Are you sure that thing is a hundred percent tame, I don't want to be served as dog food to a dog roughly five times my height and size."She was just procrastinating by this point and by experience; I knew I needed to threaten her before she yielded.

"Yes I know thou do not like to be devoured by this beast but if you do not get on immediately I will make him devour you and tell the others thou were killed by hellhounds, not too far from the truth either.

Her eyes widened most likely remembering the last time someone called my threat as a bluff. Let's just say that she wasn't able to talk . . . for three weeks. She quickly scrambled to climb up the hellhound and once she was finished we set out to find the others.

* * *

The ride was full of close encounters and greetings with Thanatos, there were hellhounds wherever we went and they kept chasing and clawing at us. It seems that it wasn't just a pack like Lady Artemis had predicted, with the amount of these hellhounds, I would say that there was a legion currently hunting for us.

In the thousands of years that I have been the lieutenant of the hunt, I had learned to trust my instincts and they were currently telling me that a _storm_ was coming, and not just any kind of storm, this was going to be a storm of massive proportions.

I haven't felt this terrible since the Gigantomachy millennia ago, when that disgusting _man _had _won _the war. I knew deep inside me that somehow, this was just a preview of what was to come.

I went on with new-found determination through the forest, while Phoebe was firing at the hellhounds in pursuit of us. I grit my teeth, normally this would be so much easier especially after thousands of years of practice but the hellhounds never seemed to run out of energy, they kept running and dodging Phoebe's arrows leaving nothing but black blurs for the arrows to pass.

This was another bad sign that something terrible was coming, the monsters were showing up all over the world and they were becoming more powerful by each month, even Olympus was taking notice and there has been a lot of recent activity in the past two years. Lady Artemis refused to tell us anything about it though.

I especially thought about this while I dodged a swipe to my face from another hellhound in front of us, if Lady Artemis had told us already what was going on we might have been more prepared by this sudden onslaught of monsters, I was already getting frustrated and I sensed Phoebe was too.

Her arrows frequently kept missing, save for the occasional lucky shot to the chest, even then we were still heavily outnumbered by the beasts, there were at least 13 of them following us at breakneck speed and they seemed to be getting more ferocious.

Even my hellhound was starting to resist me and was constantly trying to bite my hand off; it took all my concentration to balance my bow inside of its mouth and to avoid my hand being bitten off by its salivating mouth.

I guided it continuously to the south, where our camp was, I didn't know how long we were riding now and I was rapidly losing hope when I spotted it—

There was a trail leading up to a thick wall of trees, the trail was so small and thin that even a skilled hunter would have trouble finding it, except for the ones who created it. The hunters usually set up camp in very secluded places covered with heavy foliage to minimize detection from prying mortal eyes.

I just never thought that this way of setting up camp can work against us as well; usually any mode of transportation should be abandoned because of the minimal space to maneuver in, but now we would be forced to plow through the trees with speed to rival a _race car's_ as the other hunters would say.

I made a quick decision and prayed to Tyche that we wouldn't see Thanatos for a long time from now,

3, I heard a whine from behind us that signaled to me that Phoebe had hit another hellhound

2, I felt my skin freeze and the night darken, I glimpsed what looked to be gigantic, obsidian black wings in the corner of my peripheral vision—Thanatos was here.

1, the world was in slow motion, like we were moving in thick maple syrup—

We barreled straight through the branches in the sudden acceleration of time and I heard multiple surprised whimpers from behind me, from the arrows or the sharp branches, I didn't know.

I was hit by multiple branches and I felt cuts and scrapes start to form in my face but I didn't care, I heard a surprised moan directly underneath me and a second later, I was thrown into the air and onto my stomach.

I looked up from my position and saw the ink black wings and towering figure of Thanatos in the sky, above the camp. He was faintly illuminated by orange light and when I looked down; I saw the whole camp was ablaze...


	5. one eyed encounters, dreams, sisters

**Fifth Chapter: - in sync with ****Zoë's fleeing from the hellhounds**

**Percy Pov**

I was currently running for my life with a bleeding leg and a shoulder wound, nothing packed with me but my precious bow and my hunting knives, I was running away from the tank-sized hellhounds that were currently catching up with me.

Last time I turned around to fire an arrow, there were about 11 chasing after me. I was trying to lose them by making detours and shortcuts but they would just ultimately appear behind me, full of rage and joined by another hellhound.

I had woken up from the lake about a few hours ago and the sight that greeted me was horrendous, the forest around me was burning and the ground was trampled on by multiple feet and hooves, both belonging to monsters of different sizes.

I summoned water from the lake and made a small wave that drenched the burning trees, the fire around me was instantly gone but I knew that this didn't do much good since other parts of the forest was most likely also burning, the work of the monsters.

I took the cross from my neck and pulled on it, the chain around my neck broke and in an instant, the cross turned into my sea-green bow. I ran to the north in the direction of my makeshift home.

On the way there, I saw more burning trees and saw the monsters that caused the fire; there was a group of 15 Cyclops 7 to 14 feet tall wearing full battle armor, and they were also carrying torches.

I was confused, where did they get battle armor, I thought. I didn't have much time to think about it though because they spotted me a second later, I raised my bow and aimed 2 arrows at the closest ones, I released the string and it hit the 2 of them right in the eye.

The tallest one-about 15 feet tall-obviously the leader growled at me and charged, the others followed him and raised their torches high in the air, I rubbed my bow and it was gone, a second later I felt the chain and the cross around my neck again.

I took my hunting knives from their sheathes, two 15 inch celestial bronze blades tipped with mortal silver, 3 inches total for the handle and 12 inches for the blade. I charged at them and jumped in the air, using my thousands of years of training to propel me high in the air in an abnormal height.

I brought down my blades and stabbed at 2 of the Cyclops' eyes, one of them swung their torch at me, I dodged and stabbed at a chink on its armor while also stabbing behind me and hitting one who tried to grab me.

The 2 of them instantly turned into fine, golden dust.

The leader growled and 3 more moved forward to attack me, one had dropped its torch earlier and pulled out a club filled with spikes, one had pulled out a scimitar twice as big as himself and the last one held a spear twice as tall as him and it was tipped with poison.

The one with the spear charged at me with his spear pointed at my abdomen trying to gut me, while the one with the scimitar swung his sword attempting to behead me. I sidestepped the one with the spear and brought my blade out, my blade cut the spear shaft in half and the 2 parts flew over our heads.

I ducked the scimitar and catched the part with the spear point, I threw the broken spear at the Cyclopes wielder and it him in the abdomen, the spear penetrated his armor and he burst in to sand, I then turned around and flung my blade to the scimitar wielder's eye.

The one with the club roared at me and swung at my head, I ducked and slashed at his unprotected foot. He growled in rage and swung at me again, I rolled underneath and grabbed my hunting knife from the ground, I ran at him and stabbed at a chink in his armor, he disintegrated.

The leader screamed in fury and signaled the other remaining Cyclopes to attack me all at the same time, they all charged at me with different weapons, including spears, scimitars, clubs, broadswords, even drumsticks. The leader himself wielded 2 enormous broadswords that could either slice me in pieces or knock my brain out of my skull.

I slashed at one's unprotected foot and he screamed in pain, I dodged a scimitar carelessly flung at me and it hit one with a spear right in the face. I summoned water from myself and made tendrils that grabbed 3 of them and tore them apart, I then willed the water to freeze and become ice shards that rained on the other Cyclopes (hey wait a minute! Why didn't I think of that earlier?).

The others turned into golden sand except the leader, out of all the others, he was the only one who had taken time to wear a helmet and this managed to protect him from my rain of frozen ice shards.

The Cyclopes leader seemed really pissed and roared at me so loudly that my eardrums were ringing, he charged at me swinging both of his broadswords around in a rage, I barely dodged all the blows, they were miscalculated and should have been easy to avoid but the power with which he delivered them was shocking, even for a Cyclopes.

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I barely missed being beheaded by a slash sent to my head; I dodged and sent a quick flurry of blows that were aimed at the barely noticeable chinks at his armor. He roared in pain and kicked me at the abdomen.

I was sent flying a good few meters away and I crashed against a tree, the force of the impact was so strong that the tree broke in an instant. The Cyclopes wasted no time in standing around and charged at me head-on.

My abdomen throbbed in pain but nevertheless, I quickly dodged in the nick of time and the Cyclopes trampled on the broken tree. The Cyclopes turned around in rage and growled for what seemed the hundredth time.

He charged at me with a kind of impossible-for-a-Cyclopes speed but this time I was ready, I charged at him and did a baseball slide underneath him bringing my blades out to make a huge gash at both of his legs.

I recovered and stood up while the Cyclopes stumbled for a bit and finally slowed down enough to stop. I then charged at him again and dodged a swipe at my chest and at the same time stabbed at his arm, he growled and slashed with his other unwounded arm, I brought down my other blade and severed his wrist, I then stabbed my knife in his shoulder and then imbedded my other blade in his eye, where it was visible from underneath the helmet

The Cyclopes struggled and gripped my hands; he turned into dust slowly starting from his feet until the head. Soon he was completely gone and I was gripping empty air, I put my weapons back into its sheathes and continued to run north for my cave...

And now here I was being forced to turn left, right, zigzag and even in circles to avoid being killed by a couple of hell-crazed dogs. My foot was bleeding profusely and I would soon be incapable to fire an arrow because of my arm injury, the only thing keeping me safe now was adrenaline but even that would soon be replaced by fatigue.

I kept running, barely missing a bite to my leg, for the past few weeks now I had noticed a gradual increase of the monsters in this forest as well as a slight increase in their physical attributes. I didn't think much about it because I thought it would take a much longer time before it would affect anything major in battle, until now of course.

The hellhounds were faster, stronger and bigger. The sudden spike in their physical attributes was unexpected and left me little to no time to prepare, couple that to the fact that I didn't bring nectar and ambrosia, I was screwed.

I had no chance right now except to keep running for my cave where I stored my ambrosia and nectar and bring as much as I can with me and then evacuate. I turned around and fired an arrow to the nearest hellhound so fast I didn't even remember putting in the bowstring.

I knew I was getting closer, I recognized the same paths that I walked on for more than 5 months, if I could only get there before the hellhounds have me for dinner, and I'm home free.

Energized by this thought, I ran faster than I thought possible with a limping leg, I outran the beasts behind me and soon all I could hear from them were angry barks and disappointed howls. I could feel the wind rushing against my face so hard that I felt that I could be swept by it.

The exhilaration, however, was short lived since I knew that the hellhounds could track me again by the scent of blood following me anywhere I go. I increased my speed and soon I found the entrance of the cave, covered by tall grass and a minimal concentration of the mist to make sure that animals and the rare human doesn't find it.

I darted to the cave entrance and was swallowed by darkness. I could see through it though, I had trained myself centuries ago to never be bothered by it again. The dark was my advantage, it was my friend, I told to myself. I could see through the dark as easily I could see through the day.

Soon, I found my makeshift store of weapons and the pile of leaves I use as a bed. I ignored all of these and walked to a portion of the cave wall, beside my weapons and touched it. Just as I expected, it was hard as any portion of the cave wall was, I pushed harder on it and I could feel it giving away.

The rock became squishy and started smoking although it wasn't hot at all. The rock soon disappeared in the form of smoke and vapor and what replaced it was a big gaping hole just enough to put his head inside.

The hole contained a few squares of Ambrosia and a little cup filled with nectar. I took all the Ambrosia squares and put them in my mouth, and then I took the cup of nectar and drank it all, instantly I felt revitalized. I could feel my wounds closing up and I felt like I could take on an army of demigods and monsters.

I also felt a burn in my gut and I felt my face heating up, not because of embarrassment but because I had taken too much Ambrosia and nectar. I ignored it though, the purpose of eating my whole stash was to give me enough of an energy rush to last me-if used wisely-a few hours.

I turned away from the now empty hole and walked back outside the entrance. I knew that the hellhounds were not far behind me now and that soon I'd have a pack chasing me again, I didn't want that that to happen so I turned to the east where the nearest town was and darted to that direction.

Given the current urgency of the situation I knew that I had to use my powers to get me there faster so I imagined my body turning into mist and the wind helping me to propel myself in the air. The next thing I knew was the green, black and blue blurs passing around me in speeds literally faster than sound.

The last time I had used this technique was about 6 months ago when I was in the Netherlands enjoying the nice view and the nice mortals, it was like giving myself a vacation. I had originally planned to stay there longer but it turned out that most of the apartment owners and such were Cyclopes trying to find a good meal out of all the multitudes of people there.

Everyday a group would attack me while I was going to sleep or even when I was in the bathroom! Being finally fed up with this, I decided to leave as fast as I can in anywhere but there so I turned into mist and literally traveled over 2 countries in a matter of seconds.

I had perfected this technique a long time ago but the reason I didn't do it often was mainly because of my lifestyle, in order to find good food in the forest I had to scour the whole forest if necessary and traveling faster than a jet plane was not the way to do it.

While thinking about this I had not noticed that I had already arrived in my destination and was just staring stupidly in front of me, I snapped out of my daze and looked at the place around me, I was in the middle of some street and there was a couple of houses and apartments as well as a gas station with a sign that said: _open 24 hours_.

It wasn't exactly English but I took time to know the language of every country I went to in the past centuries, which is basically every country in this world. With that being said, I walked to the gas station and went in the little store they had there.

I took 2 one liter bottles of water and a couple packs of chips and chocolate, I walked to the bored cashier and put down all my items to the table in front of him, he looked up at me but before he could say anything I had snapped my fingers in front of him, the sound that resulted was like a distant bell or perhaps an echoing wind and the cashier's eyes became unfocused.

He then looked up at me expectantly; eyes still unfocused and I told him in his language to let me go and go home after I leave. He nodded and I walked out the store with all my merchandise and he suddenly stood up to close the store after I went out, I wasn't worried about the surveillance cameras, those things automatically ignored everything that used or was related to the mist.

I walked to the nearest apartment and entered it, I knocked on the office of the sleeping landlord, and he looked irritated from being waked up from his sleep. When he was about say something I interrupted him with a snap of my fingers in front of his face.

His eyes became distant and he stared expectantly at me, I told him to get me a room and let me stay as long as I want and that I'd give him his key back when I leave. He nodded and took a key from a drawer in his office. I walked to the elevator leaving him there until he comes back to his senses.

I went in the elevator and listened to the dings until it reached the 4th floor, I got out of the elevator and searched for the number of the apartment door, room C-7. I walked until I found the right door.

I unlocked it and went inside, the interior wasn't anything special, it had a brown carpet that had an old brown stain in the carpet that could have been coffee or vomit, the wall was a plain white and the bed was unkempt.

I put down the items I bought in the store on a table and opened one of the bottles of water; I drank about a quarter of it and I instantly felt like I drank a bucketful of caffeine, I then opened a bag of chips and ate all of it in a few minutes, it wasn't proper food but I had to make do fr now.

Soon, I had devoured all the chips and it still wasn't enough to take my hunger for at least a few hours. Despite this, I decided to save the chocolates for tomorrow and took another huge gulp of water from the bottle and then I sat down on the chair and thought about all that's happened so far.

One moment I was living my normal hunt-and-eat lifestyle and then the next moment I'm being hunted by a crazy goddess and her band of '_merry_' women, I'm being surrounded by monsters who want to eat me for a dinner and now I don't have anywhere to go.

I ran my hands through my hair and sighed, I had thought for a while now that the fates wouldn't bother me again as long as I lived except for the occasional monster but clearly I was wrong. They just loved messing with my life, as if it's not already hit rock bottom.

I thought what I'd do tomorrow; obviously I'd have to leave this place because the monsters would eventually catch up with me, I shrugged, I would think about that in the morning.

I stood up and walked to the bed, I lied down without changing my clothes and closed my eyes and I instantly fell to a troubling sleep...

_I was alone in the middle of a snow covered road staring up at a building that resembled something that came out from the Middle Ages, I looked around me and noticed that the other parts of the road was just pitch darkness. I looked behind me and I saw the same darkness, the only way was going to the castle like building._

_I walked but my feet didn't leave any imprints in the snow, once I arrived at the open doors I went in and everything around instantly turned black._

_I was now standing in the middle of a dance; I looked around me and noticed that all the dancers around me were all teenagers or kids except for the few adults that looked intimidating enough to be a commanding officer. That's when I realized, these people were all students or teachers and I as in a school, a military school._

_I looked around me once more and noticed that all of the kids didn't look disciplined and were just acting like normal teenagers in a normal school, I shrugged. They were probably just enjoying their free time before they had t go back to their normal military routine._

_I kept walking around, trying to find anything that looked important; the dancers passed right 'through me and didn't even blink after. That's when I noticed the man standing right beside two kids, a girl and a boy who looked to be siblings._

_He was watching them with two different colored irises, I knew one was fake but I couldn't tell which one, He also seemed on edge. My eyes then rested on the two kids, the girl wore a floppy green hat and stared at the boy-presumably her brother-with a solemn expression. The boy who looked younger was playing a card game with different pictures of mythical monsters and gods on them._

_He was the exact opposite of his sister, whereas the girl was quiet and solitary, the boy was enthusiastic and curious. Whereas her sister hid a kind of sorrow showing in her face and eyes, the boy practically glowed with joy and ignorance._

_The only similarities I could see from both of them now was their olive pale skin and their black eyes so dark it was the color of obsidian, other than that none. I turned around and observed the room trying to look for anything more suspicious._

_My eyes eventually rested on a group that was talking to each other in hushed but urgent tones, they were a total of 4 people, 2 boys and 2 girls. One of them was wearing all black clothes and her vibrant blue eyes looked fierce and intimidating; the other girl had eyes so grey that it could be compared to that of a storm cloud's._

_One of the boys, who wore a green shirt under a thick black jacket, had sea-green eyes and facial features that gave him a rebellious look, unlike the other girl with blue eyes that had a regal look to her._

_The last boy, who was disabled and the smallest of them all seemed nervous and was on the verge of trembling. He kept glancing at the teacher with two different eyes and talked to his other members in a nervous and urgent tone._

_Suddenly, they all broke up and blue-eyes went with the small boy and grey-eyes went with green-eyes to the middle of the dance floor. They seemed to be trying to blend in with the other students by dancing with each other, although it was very clear that none of them were very good dancers._

_I turned to look at the twins behind me and was shocked to see nothing, nothing at all except for the green hat that the girl wore and the cards the boy played with a moment ago, I looked frantically around the area and my eyes found an exit near the place where the twins were a moment ago._

_I ran to the exit and pushed through the doors. I fell to darkness..._

_The next thing I knew I was in the middle of snow again, to my back was the entrance of the school and to my side were the woods. The place was being used as a battlefield and _I _was in the middle of it. A spike was sent flying in my direction and I instinctively dodged it, I didn't know if they would still go through me but I rather not try._

_I looked at the direction of the projectile and saw a monstrous beast with the body of a lion the color of blood, the tail of a scorpion riddled with poisonous and razor-sharp spikes, just enough to petrify but not kill, the face resembled that of the teacher with the two different colored eyes. A manticore, I thought._

_I inspected my neck and sides and just as I expected, my weapons were nowhere to be found, I ran to the back door to the school while reflexively dodging more spikes heading my way. That's when I saw the group earlier defending themselves from the incoming spikes. Green-eyes was protecting himself by hiding behind the shield of blue-eyes and judging by the way he clutched his arm, he was hit._

_The small boy was playing different woodland tunes and the plants moved with the music, grey-eyes was nowhere to be found but judging by the footprints imprinting themselves in the snow, she was invisible._

_Demigods, I thought. I had known since I first set my eyes on them, there was just some kind of force separating them from the mortals no matter how hard they try to blend in._

_Despite the fact that the manticore had its back against the edge of the cliff, it was the Demigods who were really cornered. It was just a matter of time before they make a wrong move and—_

_Bang!_

_Bang as in I-just-hit-an-invisible-wall-in-the-air kind of bang and not the ouch-I-just-made-a-wrong-move-and-now-I'm-dead bang. I stood up from where I landed in the snow-still making no imprint-and rubbed my head, I punched the air in front of me and felt my fist hit an invisible wall as hard as celestial bronze._

_My fist throbbed but I continued to pound on the air, it didn't budge one bit. I turned around and the manticore was still firing spikes at the Demigods, which were luckily not directed at me._

_Then I noticed something, the manticore was backing up against the cliff, the two siblings-most likely also Demigods-in his grasp, suddenly a helicopter rose and the manticore glanced behind him and grinned with his grotesque mouth._

_He was about to jump when an arrow, glowing a dull gold, surprisingly barely noticeable against the night, flew from the woods and hit the glass in front of the window. It shattered instantly, not even deterring the arrows flight and hit the pilot exactly at the bridge of his nose._

_The wound gushed blood, covering the cockpit with blood while it spun out of control, soon the helicopter was out of sight and the only evidence that it had been there was glass fragments and a few drops of blood._

_I whipped my head around to find the one that fired the arrow, I had a strange feeling that I already knew who it was but I refused to believe, then, a figure burst out of the clearing wearing a black waist length parka and black jogging pants, holding a sea-green bow with celestial bronze arrows tipped with mortal silver..._

_Me..._

_I was stunned beyond recognition, I was here looking at myself attacking a manticore. The manticore growled in rage when he saw him, the second me, second me fired 3 arrows at the manticore and the monster destroyed 2 in flight, the last hit him in the torso, it bounced off him but it did seem to hurt him by the way he howled in rage._

_Second-me used the distraction of the manticore and took out his 2 deadly knives out of their sheathes, he charged, becoming a blur to all others except for me and left almost no mark on the snow that only someone with an expert eye would see it._

_Second-me slashed diagonally with one blade across the neck, it hit home and the blade pierced the neck, instead of blood, the wound let out a burst of golden sand. The manticore howled in pain but didn't disintegrate; all the while the wound was still releasing bursts of dust._

_The manticore now fueled with rage, charged at me with enhanced-monster speed and let out a flurry of swipe, bites and slashes against second-me. Second-me dodged and sometimes even vanished in a burst of mist and reappeared again to land a couple of fast blows, the manticore was quickly gaining small wounds and gashes leaking out golden sand._

_The manticore was noticeably getting exhausted while second-me looked like he never even lost a single drop of sweat, which shocked me a little considering the sudden increase in the attributes of the monster, a fight like that would have probably left me breathless._

_The manticore growled tiredly and backed up against the cliff, where the two siblings were standing, frozen in fear. The manticore snarled at them and grabbed them by the neck before second-me could deal a finishing blow._

_Second-me hesitated, trying to find a way to kill the manticore without harming the twins. Just as second-me was going to react, the manticore threw the twins to him and that distracted second-me. The manticore charged behind me to the Demigods, going for the blue-eyed one and the green-eyed one who had let their guard down earlier._

_Someone screamed although I didn't understand any of the voices I had heard from since going into the party, someone jumped on the manticore and the both of them struggled, going dangerously close to the precarious edge of the cliff, the 'someone' became instantly visible while a Yankees baseball cap was removed from her head, the source of the invisibility._

_The grey-eyed blond girl was flailing around the manticore holding a celestial bronze knife; she was trying to finish him off with one last stab when suddenly arrows flew out again from the woods._

_The arrows all flew toward the manticore, intended to finish him off painfully. I turned around and my heart jumped to my throat, these were the same girls that had chased me not longer than 2 days ago. I'm not assuming that they had made peace with me escaping from them. Some were still firing arrows when was sent in my direction, I moved to dodge it when I found out I couldn't move my feet, when the arrow was about to hit me the world around became darkness once more._

_The next thing I knew there was wind whipping against me and that the manticore and the girl were falling beside me, I saw the rocks below tried to turn into mist, I found out that I couldn't. I'm going to die, I thought._

_Then an image was wormed into my head, it was of my father, freed of his curse, gloating and laughing at me, I was suddenly filled with uncontrollable rage, the mere sight of him set me on edge and gave me the desire to rip him apart, slowly and excruciatingly painful._

_Then the image turned changed and I saw a decayed body standing and ghastly green mist emanating from her mouth._

The oracle_, I thought._

_She seemed to be reciting a prophecy but I only heard a couple of words._

_Parent...perish...curse...rain...bane...Olympus...goddess._

_I tried to comprehend all those words but it made absolutely no sense. I didn't have to think much about it though because the image changed until a girl dressed in silver was shown to me, I felt a strange connection to her but I didn't know why especially when she was a part of the hunters of Artemis._

_She had a damaged silver bow and a ripped silver parka; I was looking at her from the side so I didn't see very well her appearance._

_But then she turned and my breath hitched..._

Her...

_The image was instantly removed from my head and the next thing I saw was hitting the rock..._

I shot up from my bed with the feeling you get of falling even though you weren't, I was sweating bullets and my heart was pounding in my stomach. I was still exhausted but I knew I had to get moving fast.

To get to her...

My sister...


End file.
